Anyone ever use Belbuca?

[JJN]

Thanks for all of that info, toothepastedog. I said "miracle drug" because for me to be 8 days into this treatment and not having any withdrawals or cravings to take pills, that's a miracle for me.

So so far no major side effects, just some light headaches after swallowing the medicine after it dissolves, and a bit of stomach cramping. Use a little bit of Colace to loosen things up down there, I've had good experiences with that before.

I wasn't aware of the Tagamet thing.. so it potentiates the bup, but what are the side effects of that? Did you experience any?

 

[JJN]

I used to potentiate my oxycodone with white grapefruit juice (which I still drink all the time, it's my juice of choice regardless of it helping with the drugs). Does the Tagamet do something similar to grapefruit juice?

 

[Jabberwocky]

Yes both Tagamet and grapefruit juice inhibit the same liver enzyme system, basically prolonging the drugs half life (more or less). The Wikipedia page on Tagamet has everything you need to know in terms of side effects. If you don't have any pre-existing conditions related to hormonal stuff and can keep you food habits in check it shouldn't be a big problem.

I used way to much of it, way more than I eventually learned was necessary to potentiate the buprenorphine. Basically it turns buprenorphine into methadone-lite, making it act more of a full agonist. If you keep your buprenorphine dose low and your Tagamet dose low and don't redose all the time the combo is very satisfying as far as the opioids cravings go.

 

[MisterNotSoClean]

I remember the elation I felt after getting on subs. At the time, I would have called it a miracle drug as well.

After 3 years of being on suboxone I did notice some adverse effects. I had low testosterone, I had sugar craving that would rival that of that cockroach alien off of MIB, I gained 50lbs from 180lbs to 230lbs,(I'm back down to 200lbs) the last year I was on it I felt kinda emotionless, and I got a cavity... I've had 1 cavity prior when I was 13... fucking sugar.

Suboxone definitely was worth it overall but it does lose its luster after a while. I wouldn't say it's equivalent to a unicorn that shits rainbows and ice cream but its not a fire breathing ass dragon either. It falls somewhere between those.

 

[JJN]

Having been on opiates for several years, this is definitely a step in the right direction for me. I do think that I'm going to try to just level off from the opiates, and start a slow taper relatively soon- I don't want to be on Suboxone for 3 years before tapering down. I'm hoping that in just a couple of months I'll have the opiates out of my system for good, and not be in too deep with the sub to start a slow taper down to nothing. Will probably go back to Belbuca once the dosage of Suboxone is low enough that I have to cut the strips into 16ths. If I get in too deep with Suboxone, it will just be bad withdrawals all over again, which is why I started Suboxone in the first place- to prevent that.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Slow and steady wins the this here recovery race

You have your whole life ahead of you to work on your recovery. It is very refreshing to see that someone understands the significance of taking their time tapering off ORT. That is so crucial to the recovery process. The hard work we do today, tapering slowly and working on improving ourselves (ethically speaking), sows the seeds of the success we will undoubtably taste in our future.

 

[JJN]

Thank you, my good man. I'm really happy I found Bluelight to help me (and countless others) through our recovery!

Slow and steady wins the this here recovery race

You have your whole life ahead of you to work on your recovery. It is very refreshing to see that someone understands the significance of taking their time tapering off ORT. That is so crucial to the recovery process. The hard work we do today, tapering slowly and working on improving ourselves (ethically speaking), sows the seeds of the success we will undoubtably taste in our future.

 

[crackles]

Nice. Try washing your mouth out with Listerine before you pop the strip under your tongue. It will help it dissolves a hell of a lot faster. By ten minutes you should be good regardless though.

I have drymouth diagnosed, could I use BIOTENE rinse a few moments before using the BELBUCA strip to help it dissolve faster?

My BELBUCA , I've given it up to 45 minutes and half the little patch is still undissolve in my mouth, so sad IMHO.

Thanks all.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Sorry crackles, I don't really know. That would probably help, but with Listerine I think what helps is the ethanol. Since Biotene doesn't have ethanol in it (to my limited knowledge), it probably won't work as well as Listerine to increase the BA of sublingually applied buprenorphine products.

Is there a reason you couldn't use Listerine or ethanol based mouthwash? Biotene would surely be better than nothing at all, but I doubt it would help as much as something with Listerine. You get the idea...

 

[neuro1]

Hello everyone, fist post here, although I've been a reader for a long time. Been using various prescribed opiates for several years now (Vicodin, Norco, Oxycodone, OxyContin, Morphine). All of those on and off, most recently oxycodone, about 120mg per day.

Recently decided enough was enough and asked my doctor for a Suboxone treatment.

He recommended Belbuca. I had never heard of it before. He gave me a copay card so I could get a month free. Got a script for 300mcg Belbuca 2x/day. Pharmacy said they couldn't get it until the next day, and I was already starting withdrawals (was about 30 hours since my last oxycodone pill). I couldn't wait another 24 hours so the doc gave me two 8/2 Suboxone. Took half of one as soon as I got home, felt shitty for the next 2 hours, then took the other half. Almost immediately started to feel better. Got through the night without taking the other one.

Picked up the Belbuca at 9am the next morning. First dose at 9:30. I don't really understand why the dosage is so low compared to Suboxone- 300mcg Belbuca compared to 8mg Suboxone- which automatically put into my head that this wasn't going to work. Anyway took my first dose (the buccal films are a huge pain in the ass to get to stick in your cheek- I lost the first film because it kept sticking to my finger and I couldn't get it in my mouth before melting away).

That was yesterday- I ended up taking 3 300mcg Belbuca instead of 2 (9:30am, 4pm, 11pm). Felt ok, not as good as I did on the Suboxone, but better than being in full withdrawals.

Today is my 2nd full day on Belbuca. Hoping I can just stick to 2 of them as prescribed- don't want to run short at the end of the month.

Can't find much info on Belbuca. In the back of my head I wish I had Suboxone. Will see what happens down the road. Good luck to everyone dealing with similar issues as me.

JJN

have been on belbuca for over a year and I feel your pain with the waiting for it to become in stock every time at the same Pharmacy. They tell me don't worry next time we'll have it ready for you but they always have to order it. I also take Percocet (Oxycodone) 10/325 four times a day. I was on the Oxycodone four times a day before the introduction to belbuca. I started out on a150 micrograms and eventually move my way up to 450mcg. I had major surgery to help correct the problem cervical arthroplasty on 2 disks by the way if anybody knows of a topic about anesthesia effects and psychedelic dreams after effects on BL let me know that's a whole nother subject that spikes my interest. I don't know if it's in my head or if I've just been on these medicines for too long but it seems when the belbuca was introduced into my regiment the euphoria if any was gone granted the only time I would feel any Euphoria effect of the oxycodone was in the morning for a brief amount of time and throughout the day when I would take the next dose I would feel the effect would about 15 minutes to 30 once belbuca was introduced I lost all that euphoria feeling except for in the morning for about 15 minutes just enough where your body tells you hey you just took something. My question is does belbuca suppress other opiate derivatives? BTW my first post on this awesome forum.

 

[ProfessrHyperdimensional]

I've never even heard of it.

Ever used Ibogaine?

Edit: I shouldn't be in opiate threads as I was never hooked on them. But can I share this? I was going to share another Ibogaine video or two that appeared to be like the truth is don't try it but playing them it seemed they were saying Ibogaine is a miracle for addiction.



I hope your recovery is going well. Opiates are a pain to kick aren't they? I've lived in halfway houses with junkies.